TV REVIEW: FTN reviews Arrow SO1EO23 Sacrifice

This past season of Arrow has been quite the ride. What started off as a shaky program with some potential has turned into a great and entertaining show that I actually came to love. It seems with last night’s finale the producers of the show took a normal episode of Arrow and injected it with Grade-A steroids. What we got was the usual fair but intensified in every aspect, from the fight scenes to the mushy stuff and everything in between. Sacrifice was bigger, stronger and faster. While cramming the theme of sacrifice into just about every plot point.

WARNING…SPOILERS AHEAD

The race to stop Merlyn from unleashing his earthquake device on The Glades was quite interesting. Oliver turned to everyone he could think of in his quest to shut down The Undertaking, including Detective Lance and his mother. Detective Lance redeemed himself big time in my eyes here by taking the info Oliver gave him to his superior in the hope that the Glades would be evacuated. I loved how he put his job on the line and admitted that the Hood was actually useful. When the show first started he was the guy you loved to hate, and now I am hoping he returns next season with an almost Commissioner Gordon type presence. Moira doing her part by holding the press conference was a great move too. I loved how she backed Merlyn into a corner and also opened Tommy’s eyes to his dad’s work while simultaneously saving Detective Lance’s job, even though it meant she would be locked up.

Thea and Roy trying to make their way out of the Glades was great stuff. Roy cemented himself as a true hero this week by helping those people on the bus; I cannot wait to see him encounter Arrow next season! His character has grown by leaps and bounds and this act seemed to be the realization of that maturation. Speaking of maturation, how sad was it to see Tommy go? When the show first started I didn’t even love to hate him, I just hated him. Then slowly he worked his way into my heart and became a pretty decent character. His death, though sad to see it happen, was done quite well with Oliver uncovering him only to find him impaled on a piece of rebar. I also loved how Tommy was the guy who showed to save Laurel. That act was his character coming around full circle from the stuck up, spoiled jerk to the selfless hero. Who knows though, since it’s a comic book show maybe we haven’t seen the last of Tommy Merlyn.

The climax of the episode was nothing short of spectacular. Oliver putting that arrow through himself to get to Merlyn was awesome! That’s a ballsy move that I’m not sure I could’ve made. Though if my only other option was death…? The one thing that confused me though was Diggle’s insistence on helping Oliver take down Merlyn. His reasoning about how Oliver has always failed alone made so much sense and I thought we would be treated to some awesome two-on-one fisticuffs, but then Diggle gets taken down way too easily and becomes a total non-factor. How does that even make sense from a writing standpoint? Plenty of thrills were also offered in Detective Lance and Felicity shutting down the earthquake machine, only to have Merlyn get the last laugh. I also loved Merlyn’s line about redundancy. The showdown on the island was handled very nicely. The climax was easily my favorite part of the episode. I loved Oliver’s little “Guess so” to Fyers. What really sold that part though was Slade Wilson’s smirk in reaction to Oliver’s action. That right there was Slade realizing that this isn’t the same Oliver he found in the beginning. This was the new Oliver who would do what he has to in order to survive. My only question here is with Fyers out of the way, what will the flashbacks look like going forward as we can only assume that this all happened in the span of a year. What will happen in the next four years after? Will there be a new bad guy on the island, maybe Fyer’s boss, or will it all be about them trying to get home?

My only complaint is that we aren’t calling him Arrow yet. I thought for sure this would go down in the season finale, but alas it was not to be. The Hood and The Vigilante are just such cringe inducing names. Hopefully that gets straightened out next season. Overall this was a great way to take Arrow out on a high note for the season. Everything about the episode felt intensified over what we usually get. Aside from the love stuff, which also felt intensified, I loved just about every aspect of the episode. By the way, want to know how I occupy my mind during the mushy scenes? I wonder how Stephen Amell would perform on a Ninja Warrior course. I really think he should go for it in the off seasons. Arrow, you have made me a true fan and I am sad that I will have to wait for more.

4 out of 5 nerds

You can follow Christopher on Twitter @AUDone44 and The Nerd @nerdfollowing

Christopher is self-billed as the World's Coolest Nerd (meaning he wears glasses and is clumsy, but he never earned good marks in school). He loves all things Star Wars and superhero related such as comics, books, cartoons and movies. He's a husband and father who somehow manages to keep up with his pastimes since his day job mainly consists of sitting around a store with not much to do. He's very outspoken and wants to share his opinions with the world, or at least his fellow nerds. You can follow him on Twitter @AUDone44.

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